PGCE Secondary School Direct

Teacher Training

Knutsford Academy

(SD14)

Pre-Entry Information

2015 Entry

Mission Statement

“Edge Hill University will provide an intellectually stimulating, creative and inclusive environment for its community. Teaching and learning of the highest standard, supported by pure and applied research of international significance, will provide a firm foundation for its graduates, and other stakeholders in a rapidly changing world. An international perspective, knowledge and understanding, and a life-long capacity to learn and adapt, is the surest way of securing an individual’s and nation’s future.”

Equal Opportunities

Edge Hill University aims to provide an institutional environment which is welcoming; and which values and affirms the positive contributions of all its members.

Edge Hill University seeks to identify and to eradicate any practices which promote racism, sexism or homophobia or which discriminate against people with disabilities, or from particular socio-economic backgrounds, or because of their age.

We ask everyone to be aware of their behaviour at all times so that we can continue to develop an atmosphere where everyone feels welcome”.

Inclusive Services Statement

Inclusive Learning

It is Edge Hill’s aim to make our services and provision accessible to all our users. If you need us to present our training/resources/information in a different format (eg: electronic copy, large print), or need any other modifications, please contact your Module Leader and we will do our best to accommodate your requirements.

Concerned about your studies?

Every year we have students who have concerns about aspects of their study skills (for example: reading and writing) and worry about their ability to study at this level. If you have had difficulties in these areas at school, Edge Hill can offer informal guidance for you in relation to this. It may be that you have a Specific Learning Difficulty, in which case we can offer you appropriate assessments and guidance/support to help you achieve your potential. Please call into the Inclusive Services Centre or phone us for a confidential chat in relation to this.

Outreach centre administrators will also provide support for those students studying in outreach centres

Disabilities / Specific Learning Difficulties (eg: Dyslexia, Dyspraxia)

If you have a disability or a Specific Learning Difficulty (such as Dyslexia or Dyspraxia), Edge Hill will be able to support you better, if you let us know about it. If you feel your ability to study, read, write or concentrate is affected by a disability, mental health need or a Specific Learning Difficulty, Edge Hill can offer learning support and guidance tailored to your individual requirements. You can arrange an appointment for a confidential chat to explore your learning requirements and help you make informed choices regarding support.

Disability (eg: physical, sensory or mental health)

Inclusion Team, Student Information Centre

Tel: 01695 584190 Email:

Specific Learning Difficulties (eg: Dyslexia, Dyspraxia)

Skills Development Team, Inclusive Services Centre

Learning Resource Centre (LRC), First Floor

Tel: 01695 584372 Email:

Secondary PGCE School Direct (SD14)

Pre-course information – 2015 / 16 Entry

Contents:

Section A: Essential Information for all Secondary PGCE Trainees

Your communication address

Edge Hill contacts

Code of Conduct

First week / Induction

Key dates for start of programme

Attendance

School placements

Section B: Action you should take now

Conditions of offer

Tuition fees

Primary placement

Section C: How you can prepare for the programme

Standards for the award of Qualified Teacher Status

Subject specific action

Subject knowledge audit and enhancement

Information and communications technology

Professional Skills tests

General pre-course reading

Appendices:

No / Description
1 / Checklist of what you should do now
2 / Certificate of attendance at primary placement
3 / Professional standards for qualified teacher status (QTS)

Section A:

Essential information

Welcome to Edge Hill University and to Knutsford Multi Academy Trust. You will shortly be undertaking a course leading to PGCE with Qualified Teacher Status and a career that we hope you will find long and rewarding. This is a challenging course which offers opportunities for a high level of personal satisfaction. It aims to produce innovative and creative teachers whose committed professionalism inspires the pupils in their care. Through a carefully structured programme, working with schools and colleges in partnership, we aim to ensure that you develop the necessary knowledge, skills and understanding to become an effective classroom practitioner and successful role model.

It is important that you read this booklet and ensure that you complete all the administrative tasks needed to secure your place.

Your address for communications

Successful completion of this course requires regular communication and contact between yourselves, your University tutors and your School Direct Host School, Knutsford Multi Academy Trust (KMAT). It is essential that we have an up to date contact address and phone number should there be any queries. It is advisable to leave both term time and vacation contact details where these are not the same. Please ensure you keep the Admissions Office and the UCAS informed of any change of address. Once you begin the course please ensure that Academic Registry, your Course Leader and the Programme Administrator are kept informed of any changes.

Who to contact at Edge Hill with queries

If you need to contact Edge Hill with any query relating to your entry to the course, please call the Admissions Office on 01695 650950. If you experience some difficulty getting through, please keep trying.

If you have any queries relating to your school placements, please contact us on the numbers shown below:

Jo Pepper / SD14 Knutsford Academy Head of Programme / 01565 633294 /
Colette Giblin / SD14 Edge Hill University
Programme Lead / 01695 650990 /
Stephanie Haigh / SD14 Administrator / 01565 633294 /

Code of Professional Conduct

As a trainee teacher, you will spend a significant proportion of your course on placement in schools or other settings. When on placement, and in the University, you will be expected to present and conduct yourself in a way that is consistent with the professional expectations of a teacher.

Detailed guidance is provided in the ‘Code of Professional Conduct for ITT Trainees’. You will receive this during your course induction and will be asked to sign a copy to indicate that you understand and accept the professional expectations and requirements of school placements.

First week /Induction

This PGCE Secondary School Direct Programme (SD14) commences with 3 day induction on Thursday 27th August 2015at Knutsford Multi Academy Trust (KMAT)(upper school).

Induction at KMAT is Thursday – Friday 27th & 28th August and Tuesday 1st September.

You are expected to arrive at 8.45am for a 9.00am start.

Programme Enrolment takes place onWednesday 2nd Septemberat the University in E2 Faculty of Education.

You are expected to arrive at 8.00am for the formal registration process at 8.30am.

During this day there will be further inductions from the University, covering the range of learning and support services that will be available during your training. You will receive details later about the enrolment process.

You will be at your home schoolfrom Thursday 3rd September, attending a series of school induction activities as well as beginning your work within your subject areas.

You will receive Programme and Course Handbooks during this induction phase and these will set out the timetable for the rest of the academic year.

SD14 - Start of programme – key dates

Provisional placement and term dates

SD14 programme start & induction

/ Thurs/Fri 27th & 28th Aug & Tues 1st Sept.

SD14 enrolment (Edge Hill University)

/ Weds 2nd Sept 2015

SD14 school placement begins

/ Thurs 3rd Sept 2015

*Please note these dates may vary according to the term dates of your placement school.

You will be expected to take the same Christmas and Easter break as the school/college. The timing of half term holidays varies, and you should attend your placement setting in line with their holiday periods.

Attendance

The PGCE is a professional programme and attendance at all sessions is compulsory. You will normally be required to be in school between 8.00am and 5.00pm each day, although this may vary slightly in the individual subject areas. Timings will be set in order that you have access to the appropriate resources for your subject.

Once you are in your placement school/college you must fit in with the normal arrangements for staff in that institution. Many schools now commence by 8.30am and you can expect to be in school until 4.30pm, or later if there are specific meetings or events that involve you. During your time in school, you are expected to attend meetings and events that constitute part of the work of a member of staff (such as parents’ evenings). Should you have any difficulties with this then you should discuss this further with your Course Leader.

During the programme you will be required to report all absences (and each day of any absence) and to apply for any leave due to exceptional circumstances in advance. You will be required to maintain attendance registers for your time in Edge Hill and on placement and these should be signed by tutors/mentors/Partnership trainers as appropriate. All absences due to illness must be supported by medical certification.This is required to ensure compliance with the statutory number of training days and days in school.

Placements

Knutsford Multi Academy Trust and Edge Hill University work collaboratively to provide school placements. This draws on the experience and partnership the University maintains with schools across the North West and beyond. The Partnership enables EHU-based and placement-based colleagues to work together to develop and enhance all aspects of the relationship including the trainee’s experience.

Based upon the Partnership experience and the information you provide, you will be allocated a school setting. You must not contact schools directly.

School placements will be allocated in the Summer Term prior to commencement of the programme.

Your School – getting the most out of the ITT experience

On all ITT Programmes the placements follow the pattern:

  • Professional Practice 1 Phase 1a (a gradual and staged move from observation to planning and teaching),
  • Professional Practice 1 Phase 1b(developing competence in planning, teaching and assessment),
  • Professional Practice 2 (consolidating competence and addressing areas in which to excel).

The placements involve you in working towards your named award and Qualified Teacher Status through guidance and consultation with your Partnership Trainers and Visiting Tutors. They also enable your trainers / mentors and tutors to assess your progress against theTeachers’ Standards for the award of QTS (DfE 2012).

The choice of main school placements is the responsibility of the Faculty of Education and, consequently, trainees are not able to choose their placement schools.

All contact with placement schools is made formally via the Faculty of Education’s ITT Professional Support Team and trainees are not permitted to contact schools directly before placements are finalised

Section B

Action you should take now

Conditions of offer

On the letter offering you a place on the course, we may have stated some essential conditions. If this is the case, please address these conditions immediately to avoid delays in registration at the start of the course.

Tuition Fees

For the latest information on PGCE tuition fees and student finance options please visit our website: If you have any queries you can contact the Fees team on 01695 584452 or email

Primary Placement

As part of your training you are required to spend 3 days in a primary school. It is advised that this should take place before start of programme but can completed within the programme timeline.

If you have completed a minimum of 3 days in a primary school setting within the last 18 months – 2 years, you may be exempt from this requirement. Documentary evidence as detailed below is still required. Please discuss this with Programme Lead.

Unless specific tasks for the primary placement have been suggested, please follow these guidelines.

Once you have finalised the arrangements for your Primary School placement, you need to:

  1. familiarise yourself with the environment around the school and the catchment area for the school population;
  2. ensure you know what time the school day starts and ends and what time you are required to be present;
  3. check what is the required in respect of the standard of dress. For instance, many schools will expect male trainees to wear a collar and tie whilst some schools would not expect female trainees to wear trousers;
  4. from the suggested topics on the following sheets organise a checklist of information you want to collect and the sorts of observations you would like to make. The onus is on you to collect such information as may be readily available.

When writing up your observations it is better if you refer to the school purely in terms of its size and general location and that pupils and staff are not named.

General points about observing in the classroom

  • Discuss with the class teacher what your role is going to be each day. It can be disconcerting to have someone sit at the side of the classroom writing all the time.
  • Ensure you understand what contribution you can make to the lesson.
  • You may feel critical at times of what has happened but this should not be reflected in either your comments to members of staff or your notes.
  • At the end of each day you may be offered an opportunity to discuss what you have seen but this will depend on the availability of staff. Likewise staff would not expect you to rush out immediately the school finishes. Observing what preparation is done for the next day may be helpful.
  • Please ensure that staff are thanked and use this opportunity to highlight any parts of the experience you found particularly useful or interesting.
  • Take appropriate clothing with you for involvement in specific activities related to your curriculum area (PE)

Points for you to consider

  • How do you feel being the “teacher” in the classroom – you may even be asked if you are an Ofsted inspector?
  • What are young children like in the classroom and in the playground?
  • How would you expect the pupils to react to the transition from this environment to that in a secondary school. In some cases pupils will be separated from their friends and it might be useful to see how they consider that prospect.
  • What seems to you to influence the effectiveness of learning?

You should look in more detail at the following areas.

The School and Community

What kind of community does the school serve?

How is the community reflected in the school?

What differences in social, cultural or ethnic background can you observe?

How are these differences perceived by the staff?

How does the school relate to social agencies in the community?

School work

How is the school day structured?

How is the curriculum drawn up – for instance is it by consensus amongst the staff?

What provision is made to ensure pupils with exceptional needs such as:

  • Gifted children
  • Pupils from ethnic minorities whose first language may not be English (English as an Additional Language – EAL)
  • Pupils with learning difficulties - physical, low ability, social or psychological are fully integrated into the school?

What impact have the literacy and numeracy policies had on the organisation of the school day?

What impact have these measures had on raising standards?

How are other subjects such as Science, Art, Music, Design Technology, History and Geography incorporated into the school day?

How is creativity fostered?

How is Physical Education viewed within the curriculum and how is it delivered?

How do teachers deal with ‘non-specialist’ areas?

Does the school have a daily act of corporate worship?

How do pupils explore the world around them – for instance current affairs?

What facilities does the school have in relation to ICT and how are these incorporated into the curriculum?

What resources does the school have to support all its activities?

The Curriculum

  • Does the school have any difficulties in meeting the requirements of the National Curriculum?
  • What are the views of the teachers on assessing pupils at ages 7 and 11 against National standards?
  • How does the school teach pupils to read? Ask about the role of phonics and how the school is responding to government policy on this.

Relationships

  • What is the school’s attitude to parents? Are they actively encouraged to become involved?
  • Is there a PTA or Friends Association and what is their role?
  • How do pupils respond to the lunchtime supervisors? Are they seen as an integral part of the school staff?
  • What methods are used to reward pupils?
  • What sanctions are there to maintain discipline?
  • What are relationships like between pupils? To what extent do pupils from different social and ethnic backgrounds mix?

Assessing pupils